The Vanishing Landscape of the Southern West Virginia Coalfields

Abstract

Within the landscape of the Central Appalachian coalfields, entire areas exist under the threat of mountaintop removal coal mining and depopulation. This article offers, for the first time, a description of the contemporary landscape of the southern West Virginia coalfields (SWVC) from a cultural landscape perspective. Through a directed qualitative content analysis (CA) of Ann Pancake’s novel Strange as This Weather Has Been (2007), the study examines the novel’s depiction of the landscape as a space of endangered, low-forested mountains and narrow valleys, heavily altered by industrial activities and made vulnerable to human-made disasters, whose inhabitants grieve its disappearance and the vanishing of the mountain culture. This portrayal of the SWVC landscape is validated by scientific literature in various disciplines. The investigation provides a new perspective on how a CA of a work of fiction—when coupled with “‘holistic’ models of landscape” interpretation (Stephenson, 2008, 129)—can be used to reveal aspects of a landscape that are often disregarded, such as its cultural values. It also shows that CA can be a reliable source of information in landscape studies and be used as a valuable alternative when primary sources are unavailable. The study presents a unique representation of the SWVC region that underlines the often overlooked tangible and intangible qualities of its landscapes.